It was a historic win: More than 74 percent of Venezuelans voted — up from 66 percent in the last parliamentary election — and 112 of the National Assembly’s 167 seats went to the opposition coalition, giving it the coveted supermajority. But before the opposition celebrates its success, it would do well to look back at the last 17 years since President Hugo Chávez, Mr. Maduro’s predecessor and ideological godfather, took power.

The “Chavistas” have proved again and again that they are democrats when they win a vote and authoritarians when they lose. It would be surprising if things were different this time around. Indeed, the opposition-controlled National Assembly may be powerless before its term even begins if the government decides to try to cripple it.

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